Harry Potter and the Secret of Kirrin
by Terri Granger
Summary: Crossover between harry Potter and the Famous Five. Quite strongly AU. Will also include my take of the "James and Lily Return" theme. I own nothing, not even the computer I'm working on.
1. Some Family History

Some Family History

Harry Potter was five the first time he realised his Aunt's visitors might not be as 'normal' as she thought. He wouldn't have had any idea, if George, who was smaller than he was, hadn't successfully knocked Vernon out when he tried to attack Harry. George had simply held both her hands out, and suddenly there was an invisible barrier between Harry and Vernon. Vernon belted his head on it when he tried to break through.

Harry was horrified. George, on the other hand, was confused. "Mum? Aunt Petunia? What happened to Uncle Vernon?" Petunia just stared at her for several seconds, before finally speaking. "Well, Cissy, it looks like the family tradition is being continued," she said, softly. "I'm George, this is Frances, why'd you call one of us Cissy?" George queried, confused.

Petunia smiled, sadly. "George, your mum, Harry's mum and I were triplets. We were born to parents who didn't have our family's special talents, although all the rest of our family does. Lily and Frances have the talent, I don't. We were all adopted out, because our parents had been disowned by our mother's father, and there was only so much our father's parents, and Mum's mother, could do for us. Lily and I were adopted by the same couple. Frances was adopted by your grandparents, George." Having explained how the triplets were divided, Petunia pushed forward, giving as much information as she could without attracting Dumbledore's attention.

I call your mum 'Cissy' because she was born Narcissa Meredith McGonagall-Evans. Your grandparents, to protect her from our mother's father, changed her name. They christened her Frances Narcissa Meredith Kirrin. I was born Petunia Elizabeth McGonagall-Evans. Harry, your mum was born Lily Minerva Judith McGonagall-Evans. Our parents, Jack and Jenny, dropped the McGonagall to protect us from our grandfather."

She smiled then. "Harry, this revelation is going to have a major impact on your life. I can't do very much to protect you from Vernon, it's all I can do to keep him from attacking Dudley some days, particularly if something strange happens and you're not around to blame. But I promise you I will do my best to treat you the way I should have treated you for the past four years. I have gone along blindly with Vernon's treatment of you, and I am deeply ashamed of myself for that. I should have attempted to protect you from Vernon, and I failed you. Hiding behind the excuse of being afraid of Vernon is pathetic, since I'm so many years older than you, and I should be able to face my fears."

Petunia was almost crying. "I was stupidly jealous of Lily. Everything seemed so effortless, so easy for her. She had everyone's approval, and our parents adored her because of her talent, which I lacked. It was only years later that I would learn of our family's history. One day, Lily brought home a tabby cat with odd markings around its eyes. My life hasn't been the same since. I was desperately jealous of Lily because of the world she was disappearing into each year. I found it impossible to believe, at first, that I had a place in that world, or that I would be welcomed there. I was shocked when I first met our parents. David and Meredith Evans are wonderful people. I wish you could meet them. But it isn't widely known that I am related to them, so you can't. Not yet. You won't even meet Tabby until you get your acceptance letter, unless some coincidence occurs."

Harry was staring at her in shock. Petunia had never opened up this much to him. Hell, she'd never even spoken more than "Good Morning" in a friendly way before, and yet here she was giving him his family history, and all because of cousin George.


	2. More Family History

More Family History

A/N: I should have mentioned, at the start of the story, George is 10. She was almost six when Harry arrived at the Dursleys. I'm sorry for two or more chapters of History, before the story starts properly, but not all of it comes at the same time.

What Harry hadn't known that fateful day was that he had three other cousins. But Julian, Dick and Anne were wizards too. Genuine Muggle-borns, this time, but wizards none the less. George didn't really know much about them, having been raised on her own, and in relative seclusion, due to her father's career. Quentin was a well-known and truly brilliant scientist. So George had been brought up alone for the first five years.

All that changed, however, when Frances received notification of the death of her friend, and sister, Lily. When Frances learned of Lily's sister, Petunia, she arranged a meeting, intending only to offer condolences. She was shocked at the resemblance between herself and Petunia, and both agreed to investigate. The results astounded them.

They were related. The very idea shocked Petunia. A short investigation showed that their relationship was not well known. Both agreed this was probably for the best. Vernon was already beginning to dote of Frances' young daughter, constantly comparing her to Harry, and sometimes even to Dudley. Both the latter were found woefully lacking, although in Harry's case this was not his fault. To Vernon, a worm had higher worth and better qualities than the 'freak', and he made this fact well known.

So Petunia was very glad when the offer came for Harry to spend a week at Kirrin. She knew she would have to get Dumbledore's permission, but this was surprisingly easy. Indeed, Petunia had just been talking to herself about what a wonderful opportunity this was for Harry, while scratching the ears of a stray tabby. Not half an hour later, Harry's trip had been approved, and permission had been granted for Harry to visit Kirrin regularly. Petunia was delighted. She could allow the two young children to bond, and keep Harry safe from her husband.

Petunia had taken the boy in because he was all that was left of Lily, the sister she had adored, in her own strange way. But for the very life of her, Petunia did not know how to love the child. She tried, God knows she tried, but it wasn't always possible to show love to the boy. Especially when Vernon was hanging around, wanting to know why she was coddling the 'Freak', wanting to know why she was wasting good food on the brat, or time she should be spending with Dudley on the boy. Certainly, to Vernon, Harry had no value beyond what work he could be made to do.

But Petunia was desperate to love the sweet tempered little boy who had her sister's eyes. Desperate to know how to show the child how much he meant to her. Desperate for her sweet, loving nephew to be friends with Dudley. Harry was the best possible example of good behaviour and sweet manners Dudley could ever receive, Petunia had thought at the time.

The most Petunia could do for Harry was sneak him milk or juice, instead of the water Vernon insisted on. Even water was wasted on the 'freak' according to Vernon. Petunia knew her husband would be furious if he even dreamed of her latest show of affection for the boy. Petunia had taken to removing the single crust of bread from Harry's plate, much to the child's sorrow the first time. Harry had been shocked when a few minutes later; he had two pieces of soft bread, with jam and cheese, and a glass of apple juice. Petunia had leaned close to him, and had whispered: "eat quickly, please. Your uncle will kill us both if he sees you with actual food." Harry nodded, eating as quickly as he could, before taking his plate to the sink and cleaning it.

"Thanks, Aunt Petunia" he had whispered back, before bidding her goodnight. The process had been repeated as often as Petunia dared over the coming years. This was nowhere near often enough, in Petunia's opinion. So of course, when Vernon approved of George, Petunia was delighted. As long as George was there, Harry got something resembling decent treatment from Vernon. This had happened ever since George had shared a sandwich with Harry. If George thought the "Freak" was worth wasting food on, then the "Freak" would receive food. This would only happen when George was there, and only so that George wouldn't give Harry half her lunch.

Oddly, Vernon even liked the fact that George could best Dudley in a fight. The few times she had been seriously provoked by the boy, George had gently but firmly laid him flat on the ground.

George was five years older, and didn't want to fight her young cousin, but if Dudley attacked her, she would protect herself. Vernon approved of this. "Knock a bit of sense into him, won't do him any harm. Builds character, don't you know!" He had exclaimed jovially the first time he saw it, in response to George's laments and fears of hurting her young cousin.


	3. Tabby's Tale

Tabby's Tale

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Not even the computer I'm working on. So I definitely don't own Harry Potter or The Famous Five. J.K Rowling and Co. own Harry Potter. Enid Blyton and Estate own The Famous Five. I'm just borrowing them, and I promise to return them unharmed.

Minerva McGonagall was delighted. Her twin, Meredith, had given birth to triplets. A pair of identical girls, and a third girl. The children had been named Lily, Narcissa and Petunia. Meredith and David were ecstatic. The children were beautiful, the most gorgeous babies they had ever seen. The triplets were witches, carrying on the 'family tradition'. At least, Cissy and Lily were. Pet had yet to show any magical ability.

There was one major problem, though. Of the McGonagall twins, Minerva was a gifted witch, with a talent for transfiguration. Meredith, on the other hand, was a squib, and had been disowned by the twins' father. Their mother, Catherine, adored both her daughters, and was terrified for Meredith's safety.

With great reluctance, Meredith had been sent to live with more open minded relatives on Catherine's side. Catherine knew that Merri would be safe with her parents, who adored their granddaughters, no matter what their talents were. Eleven years later, Catherine had been granted a divorce from her husband due to his constant cruelty and terrorising of both herself and her young daughter, Minerva. Both had been taken in by Albus Dumbledore, who was quickly becoming a father to Minnie. He also encouraged Catherine to contact Merri. Albus had a reputation as a 'senile old coot' but Catherine had not realised that this was the opinion of small minded idiots who didn't agree with his stand on some issues. Albus didn't care that Merri was a squib, and had welcomed her into the family.

He had been delighted when she met David Evans. David was kind, courteous and gentle. He had a sweet nature, and a wicked sense of humour. Everyone liked him, except the twins' birth-father. No one cared about his opinion, anyway, since his only point against David was that David was also a squib. Everyone agreed that Timothy McGonagall was a bigoted idiot. Unfortunately, a lot of people agreed with Timothy, at least about his daughter's choice of husband. Two squibs marrying was frowned on, and their offspring were generally classified as 'second generation muggles'. For a squib couple to have magical children was very rare, and the children were almost never accepted by the circles with which Timothy associated. It would come as no surprise to the twins, many years later, to learn that he was a Death Eater.

It was with deep regret therefore that the McGonagall-Evans triplets were adopted out. Lily and Petunia were adopted by Jack and Jenny Evans. Narcissa was adopted by Tobias and Therese Kirrin. The children would not meet again until Lily and Frances were at Hogwarts. Minerva was able to keep an eye on her young nieces only in her Animagus form until they turned eleven. During those years, she and the Evanses would miss the children desperately. Frances would not realise the full extent of the truth behind the children's relationships until after Lily was killed. Until that point in time, no one had noticed the resemblance between the three.

The Kirrin family had welcomed the shy grey tabby with open arms, offering food, shelter and comfort whenever she was around. The muggle Evans family had the same reaction. The Evans family named the cat Misty, the Kirrins simply called her Tab. So when Frances entered the transfiguration classroom for the first time, she stared in astonishment at the cat on the desk. "Tab? What on earth are you doing here, gorgeous? Mum and dad must be so worried, when did you get out, you bad cat?" she cried, snatching the cat up and rubbing her ears, fondly. Minerva just purred at her.

Lily ran in a few minutes later, and gasped. "Misty! What are you doing at Hogwarts, you crazy cat. Pet must be so worried, go home, go on!" Frances turned around in astonishment. "What are you talking about, Lily? This is Tab, she belongs to my family." "What? My family has this cat, her name is Misty." Lily was bewildered. "Misty often goes wandering for a week or so at a time. "Tab does the same." Both girls were now starting to wonder about their cats. "Hang on, could it be we have the same cat? And what on earth is our cat doing at Hogwarts?" Lily asked, confused. Minerva had jumped out of Frances' arms at some point, and was winding around their legs, purring softly.

When both girls turned to face her, the cat took several steps backwards, before transforming with a slight pop. Both girls stared in shock. "What the?! Professor McGonagall, what on earth?" Lily gaped. Frances was shaking her head. "No way. My family has not made a pet out of one of my teachers, no way. I'm dreaming." She seemed to by trying to convince herself.

"No, my dear, you aren't dreaming." Minerva had replied, smiling. "I can imagine you are both very confused, but we don't really have the time right now to go over everything. Why don't we have tea together on Saturday night, we can talk about everything then?" The girls agreed readily, both looking forward to solving the mystery behind the shared cat.

That was the first of many teatime visits. When the truth came out, the girls were amazed. Frances had known all along that she was adopted, but Lily and Petunia hadn't, since they were a lot like their new parents. Minerva made arrangements for both to meet Meredith and David, but was unable to get permission for Petunia to join them. Because of this, it never really registered with Frances that Petunia was related to her until after Lily's death.

David and Meredith were delighted with their children's progress at Hogwarts. Lily and Frances were quickly welcomed into the extended McGonagall-Evans family, with the welcome extended to Petunia as soon as she was willing or able to accept it. This moment would not come for many years, until after Lily's death. Until that point, Petunia was bitter and jealous about the world Lily had gone to, and didn't seem to want to believe that there was a place for her there too, if she only she was willing to accept it.

David and Meredith waited patiently for Petunia to come to her senses, but it would be more than a decade before they finally met their third daughter again. Petunia seemed nervous around them, no doubt because she was uncertain of the reception she would receive, given her earlier attitude towards all things wizarding. The McGonagall-Evanses welcomed her with open arms, but the biggest shock came from seeing Misty winding around Meredith's legs.

"How on earth do you know our old cat, Mother?" Petunia asked in astonishment, the first time she saw this. "Your old cat? Oh, yes, Lily did tell us about that." Meredith replied, smiling. "Have you ever wondered why some things you thought you were talking to your cat about suddenly became known to people in our world?" "Well, yes, I did. I blamed Lily and that Snape boy for spying on me and tattling," Pet had answered, shame-facedly.

Meredith smiled. "One more secret to reveal, I guess," she said calmly. "Go on, then." The cat purred, rubbing against her legs one more time before batting at Petunia's hand with one paw to get her attention. Once Petunia was looking, the cat had taken several steps backwards, and then transformed. Petunia stared in shock. "What on earth? Don't tell me you're the one who's been sharing my secrets!" "Guilty as charged," Minerva replied, not looking remotely penitent.

"Wow. I can't believe my family's old cat is actually a wizard." Petunia exclaimed. "Witch, actually. The blokes are called wizards, us girls are called witches. And David and Merri are a phenomenon known as squibs. David's family, the Evanses, and our family, the McGonagalls, are pure-bloods. David and Merri, however, don't have magic." At Petunia's confused look, Minerva continued to explain the situation.

"Squibs are non-magical people born to pure-blood parents. David's family are far more open-minded about squibs, and bloodlines, than my and Merri's father was. We recently found out that my father was a Death Eater. That's why you three had to be sent away. Having squib-born magical children is a rare phenomenon, and they are usually welcomed with open arms. Only pure-blood supremacists like my father are hostile towards squib-borns, but father was hostile to everyone. He disowned Merri for being a squib, and me for falling off my broom in first year. It was a lot safer for Lily and Cissy to be considered muggle-born than squib-born."

Minerva sighed. "I've never fully understood the hostility shown to squib-borns by purists. Squib-borns are treated as lower than muggle-borns by purists, and depending on who the purist is, muggle-borns are often treated as sub-human. Even purists who don't believe that muggle-borns and squib-borns are scum don't treat them with equality. Even to the more open minded, squib and muggle-borns are treated as a lower class." Petunia nodded. "I guessed as much from a lot of Lily's complaining. That's part of the reason why I was so unwilling to believe I had a place in this world. I was sure Lily was just trying to placate me and make me be friends again. OF course, Lily told me that muggles like me are even lower than muggle-borns. I think we're even lower than squib-borns."

"No," replied Minerva. "Firstly, due to your bloodline, your not a muggle. You're a second-generation squib. Secondly, oddly enough, squibs are considered a higher class the squib-borns. Indeed, muggle-borns are considered a higher class than squibs, squibs are a higher class than squib-borns, and squib-borns are a higher class than muggles. Basically, to people like father, muggles are less than human, and squib-borns are ranked below muggles. In father's opinion."

Petunia nodded. "So, Lily and Cissy and me were sent away tor protect us from grandfather?" "Him and the people he associates with, yes." Minerva smiled sadly. "I still check in on Cissy quite a bit. I'd like to check in on you and Harry from time to time." Petunia smiled. "That's great, sure you can drop by sometimes. But you'll be safer as Misty, Vernon can't stand anything that doesn't fit into his view of 'normal', and me being a squib isn't 'normal' so I'm going to have to hide that from him. He already treats Harry badly as it is, and the most I can do for the boy is make sure he gets a bottle of milk twice a day. The rest of the time all he's allowed is water. Vernon's orders, and with his temper, I'm scared to rebel."

Minerva nodded sympathetically. "Yes, mum was like that with father. You've changed a lot from the woman I noticed that on Halloween. I must say, your attitude to Harry seems to have changed, in the last few months." "Well, of course it has, Aunt. Harry's all I've got left of Lily. Or at least, all I can have safely around Vernon. I wish I could really show the boy how much he means to me. I wish I understood why he means so much to me when I spent so long being bitter and jealous of Lily. I should hate the brat, but I don't. Vernon does, and makes it obviously known, but I don't. And I can't do anything for the kid, because Vernon's always there, always standing over us, always getting mad if I give the kid any affection or if it seems like Harry's getting more attention than Dudley. If Cissy and I are really related, how come Harry wasn't sent to Cissy? Hell, for that matter, why didn't you keep Harry with you?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes, that would have been the preferable solution, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, it's not widely known that you three are related. It's even less widely known that I'm related to either of you, at least in the wizarding world. Albus knew that you and Lily were related, but didn't know about Cissy. After watching your behaviour that Halloween, if Albus had known about Cissy, I'm sure Harry would have been taken to her. That would have given you two a better relationship. I know that Vernon seems to like Cissy's young daughter, Georgina. Harry would have grown up as her cousin, and your nephew, without Vernon having to have any relationship with him." Petunia smiled. "That would have been wonderful. Yes, Vernon does approve of George. She's a tomboy, and refuses to answer to Georgina, so everyone calls her George instead. She really does look more like a George too, with her short hair and trousers. But she's a nice girl, and she's gentle with the children, although she has laid Dudley flat on the ground once, when he provoked her. She was horrified about doing it, but Vernon thought it would be good for the boy. 'Knock a bit of sense into him, builds character don't you know!' he said jovially when it happened." Minerva winced. "Dudley's barely two!" "Yes, I know," replied Petunia with a small sigh. "That's just Vernon's attitude towards the situation." The two women continued to talk about the insanity of the situation in general, and Vernon Dursley in particular.

That had been six months after the Halloween when Lily and James Potter were killed, and Minerva had continued to monitor the two families, appearing openly to Frances' family, but being more secretive with the Dursleys. Only Petunia knew Misty's secret, and she wasn't about to tell anyone. She had been amazed when Vernon accepted the cat, even going so far as to scratch behind the silky ears and talk to the cat in an almost friendly manner. Petunia knew he would have a fit if he even dreamed that the cat was actually a human, and that he would probably turn homicidal if he thought she was related to it.

Minerva kept Albus updated on the situation for both families, and especially on how Harry was doing. Harry adored Misty the cat almost as much as the common green snake that had been found in his blankets. Lila the snake was Harry's constant companion and confidant, and he could talk to her for hours at a time, without noticing the time going by. Minerva was amused by this, and quickly made friends with the snake, although it would be some years before she registered that Harry had been using Parseltongue to communicate with his pet.

So, that brings us to the present day. Petunia is sitting on a low brick wall, scratching Misty's ears and musing about the opportunity that has been offered to her young nephew. And this is where we shall leave them, for now.

A/N Review would be greatly appreciated. They might also help me write more. Or wake up my infuriatingly slow plot-bunny.


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